April 27, Easter
 Like Christmas, Easter isn't just celebrated as a religious holiday anymore. Shopping centers provide photo ops with the Easter Bunny, and families gather for lunch or dinner. Egg hunts, egg decorating contests, and even television specials provide entertainment across the religious spectrum.
But the difference between the Easters I knew and the Easters of today is this: MONEY.
It's all about money. Easter is the second most selling candy holiday of the year. People exchange gifts. The Easter Bunny brings more than hard-boiled eggs. Children expect to find shiny quarters or crisp dollar bills in fake, plastic eggs. "Real" eggs are passed up during egg hunts because they don't have any money inside.
This year, the youngest girl, Haylie, was the biggest winner in the Easter egg hunt with $11.50. And she's only two!
The first Easters of my childhood didn't include money. My sister, brother, and I would wake up early to Mom boiling eggs. We'd bring out the same old dyeing cups, stained with color from Easters past, and lug the tin of crayons to the kitchen. Then, we'd spend the morning decorating the eggs, and have an egg hunt. And, for the next week or so, we'd have eggs everyday.
 As we grew older, Mom and Dad would put coins in the plastic eggs and include them in the hunt. But there were no dollar bills; it was just for fun. Uncle Al would come over and hide a $10 egg for each of us, but that was a huge treat, and Mom and Dad would insist that he not spoil us with money. We would spend days decorating a blown-out egg for school contests, and play egg fight with our prized hard-boiled eggs. It was plain fun.
It's not to say that Easters today are bad, or wrong. They're just different-more expensive, more commercialized. I guess it's just a trend of the times.
My only objection is that I'd like to hunt for eggs, too. I could use the money!
Susan Sensei's English Lesson #27（スーザン先生の英語講座 その27）
For two years I taught English in Japan, and was "スーザン先生" to my students in Ikaho town, Gunma Prefecture. I will try and introduce new words and phrases for the Japanese visitor to Hawaii. Here is this week's situation:
【今週のレッスン】
朝食にレストランに行きました。卵が含まれたメニューを注文したら、ウェイトレスが「how would you like your eggs?（卵はどうしますか）」と聞いてきます。さて何と答えますか？
◆「スクランブルエッグにしてください」
英語で言ってみましょう！
◆ "Scrambled, please."
"Scrambled"の部分に、自分の好きな焼き方を入れてください。たとえば...
●ゆでたまご=Hard-boiled
●目玉焼き=Sunny-side up
●両面焼きの目玉焼き=Easy-over（日本にはない?)
●スクランブルエッグ=Scrambled
Happy Golden Week!
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Loco Girl's Profile（ロコ・ガールのプロフィール）
Born in Hilo, I grew up going fishing with Dad, shopping with Mom, and trying to be a good "big sister" to a younger sister and brother. A Waiakea High School and the University of Hawaii at Manoa alumni, I taught English in Japan for two years on the JET Program, and am now employed at PacRim Marketing Group, Inc. I love doing a lot of things-shopping, reading, lettering, making jewelry & crafts, watching Friends-and that's just the start of my list! I like being busy, and am active with the JET Alumni Association (JETAA) and the Honolulu Junior Japanese Chamber of Commerce (HJJCC.) My family and friends are, of course, very important to me, and are why I live a very typical, happy, local-style life in Hawaii and will never leave!
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